STORIES FROM THE WEB

This Day In Sports History (October 16th) — Milwaukee Bucks

It was on this day in 1968 that the Milwaukee Bucks played their first game in franchise history. That game would be played against the Chicago Bulls, and the Bucks would go on to lose it by a score of 89-84.

With the game taking place at the brand new Milwaukee Stadium (now referred to as U.S. Cellular Arena), the Bucks drew just 8,467 fans during their franchise’s first ever contest. And things wouldn’t get much better from there, as like most expansion franchises, the Milwaukee Bucks struggled in their first season in the NBA. Their first win didn’t come until their sixth game of the season, when they defeated the Detroit Pistons by a score of 134-118. And they would win just 26 more games that season, finishing with a 27-55 record, which was good enough for last place in the Eastern Division.

That abysmal record would give the Bucks an opportunity to earn the first-overall draft pick the following year, and after defeating the Phoenix Suns in a coin flip, they would use that first-overall pick to select Kareem Abdul-Jabbar out of UCLA. Kareem would go on to lead the team to four division titles, two conference championships and one NBA championship in 1971, before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. They have not won a conference championship or an NBA championship since.